The corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a cornerstone of our commitment to the sustainable development policy (SD). CSR policy is representing our commitment to work as partners with all our stakeholders based on mutual trust and respect to enable us to add value to the business through economic development, infrastructure modernization, technology transfer, employment, worker’s health and safety, community health and welfare and support. The company is committed to the social responsibility and there are core elements to support and guide the progress and fulfill our commitments.

The CSR core elements are:

Stakeholders: ASEC Cement Group is committed to respect the interests of, and be responsive towards all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, project affected people, society and create value for all of them. ASEC is committed to develop mechanism to actively engage with all stakeholders, inform them of inherent risks and mitigate them where we operate.

Ethical functioning: ASEC governance systems are underpinned by Ethics, Transparency and Accountability. ASEC is committed not to engage in business practices that are wrongful, unfair, corrupt or anti-competitive.

Workers' health, safety and Welfare: ASEC is committed to provide a workplace environment that is safe, hygienic and humane and which upholds the dignity of employees; to provide all employees with access to training and development of necessary skills for career advancement, on an equal and non-discriminatory basis and to maintain equality of opportunities without any discrimination on any grounds in recruitment and during employment.

Human Rights: ASEC is committed to respect human rights for all and avoid complicity with human rights abuses by us or by third party.

Environment: ASEC is committed to take measures to check and prevent pollution; recycle, manage and reduce waste, manage natural resources in a sustainable manner and ensure optimal use of resources like land and water, proactively respond to the challenges of climate change by adopting cleaner production methods, promoting efficient use of energy and environment friendly technologies.

Social Initiatives: ASEC Cement’s most recent corporate social responsibility programs have focused on development in Upper Egypt, one of its key operational regions, with an eye working to alleviate hunger and poverty while promoting education, vocational training and human resource development.

Addressing Hunger and Poverty in Minya

Rampant poverty in Upper Egypt has kept children from completing their education as large numbers of youth are forced to drop out of school to work and support their families, particularly in the governorate of Minya where poverty rates exceed 30%.

Fully aware of the negative impact of the poverty situation on school children in Minya, ASEC Cement chose to engage with the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) in a nutrition program that aims to improve children’s class attendance rates and cognitive capabilities by providing them with better nutrition.

In 2012, ASEC Cement donated EGP 2 million to the WFP in support of its school meals program in Minya, an initiative which provides for a quarter of the daily nutritional needs of over 3,200 children in 113 one-classroom community schools, as well as take-home rations for their families.

The program benefited close to 16,000 people across some of Minya’s poorest districts in 2013. In an attempt to encourage school attendance in lieu of child labor as a means of augmenting family incomes, ASEC Cement contributed 18 metric tons of fortified dates to around 3,200 children and 222 metric tons of rice to the take-home rations program. According to the WFP, the success of this initiative has led to increased enrollment rates exceeding 80% in the community schools that are supported by the program.

Going forward, ASEC Cement plans to contribute 128 metric tons of cereal to the take-home rations program and increase its supply of dates to 20 metric tons. Furthermore, ASEC Cement and the WFP will hold awareness workshops targeting teachers and educators in order to create more awareness on the relationship between poverty, education and nutrition.

Fostering Stronger Community Ties as Sponsors of the Minya Football Team

Since its inception, ASEC Minya has played an active role in the local community. In 2013 ASEC Minya became the proud sponsor of the local Minya Football Team that has recently qualified for the Egyptian Premier League after leading the ranks in Group Two by scoring 46 points. The sponsorship includes EGP 120,000 per season for team uniforms, EGP 80,000 to fund participation in two training camps as well as performance based financial incentives for the team.

To celebrate the team’s ascent to the Premier League ASEC Minya hosted a gala event that was attended by the Governor of Minya. The well-received event not only marked the rise of the local team, but also helped foster a greater sense of community spirit, which solidified the relationship between ASEC Cement and the local community.

ASEC CEMENT is a platform for investments in emerging cement markets in the Middle East and North Africa Region and was created in November 2005 by Citadel Capital, the MENA region’s leading private equity firm

ASEC Commitment

We seek to achieve and retain the continuous satisfaction of our customer, employees and shareholders because we believe it is the road to success.